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Bonus Podcast: Karate and Self-Protection, Injuries and Q&A

On 14 May, 2011By Iain Abernethy

Here is a bonus podcast for those who just can’t wait until June! In this podcast we have three main sections. I look at Karate’s most common failings when it comes to self-protection, injury avoidance and management, and questions from listeners.

We frequently see karate training being promoted as an effective form of self-protection, but I think it would be fair to say that the common way karate is taught does not deliver. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with karate; it is more to do with the way it is approached. So in this podcast I look at some common problem areas when looking at karate from a self-protection perspective. I think it would also be fair to say that these problems are by no means unique to karate either and certainly apply to other arts and approaches. However, as a karateka myself, I have presented things from a karate perspective in the podcast.

The second part of the podcast looks at injury avoidance, injury management and how to keep progressing when injured. I give a few pointers that I have found useful over the years and I hope you do too.

The final part of the podcast is the ever popular listeners’ questions! In that section we look at kata bunkai, the use of the ridge-hand strike, action vs. reaction, fitting training into our busy lives, keeping motivated and whether moderating the power of our blows is appropriate in self-protection.

Please remember that if you want to skip ahead to any given section, listings of all the timing are embedded in comments of the podcast.